Justification:
This species is restricted to a few offshore islands and coastal Costa Rica and Ecuador in the Eastern Pacific. However, it is locally abundant, there are no major threats for this species, and no current indication of population decline. It is listed as Least Concern.

This species is endemic to the Eastern Pacific, and is found in the Galapagos, Malpelo, Cocos Islands, Isla Plata (Ecuador), and coastal Ecuador from Manabi to Salinas. This species is also a recorded vagrant off the coast of Costa Rica.

This species inhabits coral and rocky reefs (Allen, 1991) to depths of 20m. This fish is omnivorous, feeding primarily on algae and invertebrates including tubeworms, small crustaceans, and the tentacles of anemones (Grove and Lavenberg, 1997).

There are no major threats known for this species. In Galapagos, a minor decline in population numbers accompanied the 1997/98 El Niño event, but was followed by a full population recovery within one year.